In recent years, various types of communication networks have been developed to transmit different types of communication related content, e.g., voice, data, video. Presently, some communication systems use only a single network to stream the different types of communication related content despite that the network may not be optimized for a particular content stream.
Various other communication systems employ the use of a plurality of devices by a single user, wherein each device may access a different communication network. These devices are configured to communicate with each other via some transport layer protocol to receive a service and/or communication related content. However, a shortcoming of this type of communication system is that it requires the user to purchase and carry multiple devices to access the different networks, which can be costly and cumbersome.
Also known is the use of a multi-mode device, which allows the user to carry a single device that can communicate via multiple networks. However, such a device registers to a specific application server as a single logical and physical entity at a time, but with different contact addresses on each of the multiple networks. Such a registration reduces the flexibility and control of the multi-mode device in accessing the application server. Such a registration also requires additional functionality in the application server since a standard server's functionality limits the benefits that known multi-mode devices can achieve through having multiple different network connections with the application server. Also, some known multi-mode devices require a special multi-networking support protocol (e.g., Stream Control Transport Protocol (SCTP)) to perform multi-network switching. All participants (including the application servers) must support this additional SCTP protocol on top of their existing protocol stack. Usage of this additional protocol causes an additional overhead that reduces overall performance while increasing complexity and cost of the multi-mode devices and of the overall communication system.
Thus, there exists a need for a method, multi-mode device and computer-readable storage element to establish a session through multiple networks in a communication system, which addresses at least some of the shortcomings of past and present communication devices and techniques.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention. In addition, the description and drawings do not necessarily require the order illustrated.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the various embodiments so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein. Thus, it will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, common and well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment may not be depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments.